Ayesha Takia to pair with Salman Khan?

26

June

By Lekha Madhavan03:59 pm

Model-turned-actress Deepika Padukone backed out of Boney Kapoor’s remake of South hit Pokhiri, starring Salman Khan, at the eleventh hour (as reported in ‘SRK’s gal says no to Sallu!’, April 10). Now, the buzz is that Ayesha Takia has bagged the film.

This is the first time Ayesha has been paired opposite Salman.

Though both were part of Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq, they didn’t interact as they had no scenes together.

A source from the Kapoor camp tells HiTLIST, “It’s Deepika’s loss. Ayesha Takia is sensible enough to take it up without fuss. We need more professional actresses like her.”

Boney arranged a special screening of the Telugu film for Takia last week, just as he had done for Deepika.

“Takia loved the film. She agreed immediately. This film is not hero-centric. The heroine has enough screen presence and great scope to act.”

The film goes on floors next month. It will be shot entirely in Mumbai. Prabhudeva will direct the film, and Boney has acquired the remake rights.

Pokhiri, which grossed the highest ever collection in 75 years for a south film in Andhra Pradesh, tells the story of a ruthless mafia man (played by Salman) who tries to wipe out the mafia by being a part of it.

However, there is a soft corner to this man. He falls in love with a girl (played by Ayesha) at first sight.